How abandoned FCTA’s road turned haven for criminals

Residents of senior and junior quarters area of Abaji in Abaji Area Council of the FCT have decried the abandonment of the remaining section of the road which connects the area from Sharia court to General Hospital down to the main market in the town. The residents said the road project being executed by the […]

Residents of senior and junior quarters area of Abaji in Abaji Area Council of the FCT have decried the abandonment of the remaining section of the road which connects the area from Sharia court to General Hospital down to the main market in the town.

The residents said the road project being executed by the Satellite Town Development Department of the FCT Administration had since been abandoned.

A cross section of the residents, who spoke to Abuja Metro on Monday, said the 8.4-kilometre road was awarded to an indigenous construction company (Sahabi Liman Nigeria Limited) under the supervision of the Satellite Town Development Department of the FCTA for upgrading by the immediate past FCT minister, Muhammad Musa Bello.

They said since the contractor executed some parts of the road in 2021, the remaining portion of the road has remained uncompleted.

A resident of senior staff quarters in the area, Suleiman Adamu, expressed concern over the abandonment of the project, which he said serves as a bypass to Abaji main market.

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He said since the project was abandoned over three years ago, miscreants always take advantage of it to attack people and dispossess them of their belongings, including motorcycles.

 “Just last week, one of my relative’s motorcycles was stolen at Abaji main market and the hoodlums who stole the bike escaped through the abandoned bypass road. This is not the first time,’’ he said. 

Another resident of the area, Ifeanyi Chukukuma, said the abandoned road project had continued to pose a serious security threat to the people; not only those passing through the idle road, but to some residents who reside around the area.

He said, “Last week, a farmer, who was returning from the farm on his motorcycle around 6:23 pm, was attacked by some hoodlums and they escaped through that road.”

He said the completion of the project would reduce reported cases of attack by hoodlums on the axis.

“The FCT administration should mobilise the contractor back to the site to complete the remaining portion of the road,” he said.

He also suggested to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to either mobilise contractors back to the site or re-award the project to another contractor to be completed on time.

Our reporter, who rode through the road from the Abuja-Lokoja highway to Sharia Court down to Abaji main market, observed as heaps of sand dotted the remaining section of the uncompleted road, covering a distance of over 2.6 kilometres. Our reporter further learnt that the contractor sometime last year carried out work on some parts of the road, especially on the drainage and culverts when the FCT minister was planning to come to Abaji. A staff member of the construction firm, Ghali Yakubu, who resides in the area, told our reporter that the abandonment of the remaining section of the road was due to lack of funds.

“Actually, the remaining portion of the road ought to have been completed but according to the site manager, the delay has been due to paucity of funds,” he said.

When contacted, a senior employee of the Satellite Towns Development Department (STDD), who craved anonymity, confirmed that the project had been stalled due to the funds.

Also, a senior staff member of the company, who preferred anonymity, told our reporter that the non-completion of the remaining portion of the road project was due to non-release of funds to the company by the FCT Administration.

He said since the assumption of the present FCT Administration under the leadership of Nyesom Wike, the director of the company had made unsuccessful moves several times to get funds in order to return to the site to complete the project.

“Since the present FCT minister Nyesom Wike assumed office, my ‘oga’ has been following up to see if he can be mobilised back to site to complete the remaining portion of the road project, but from the looks of things, the minister is not interested in mobilising not only him but some of the contactors he met,’’ he said.